Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Resulting Trust
A resulting trust is an equitable reversionary interest that arises by operation of law in two cases:
- An express trust fails or makes an incomplete disposition
- Examples:
- O gives X property in trust to pay the income to A for life, then to A's descendants. A dies without descendants. X becomes trustee of the property for O then. The remainder interest of the trust just results back.
- O gives $10,000 in trust to pay $4,000 to A over 5 years. $6,000 reverts to being in trust for O.
- Examples:
- One person pays the purchase price for property and causes title to be taken in the name of another who is not a natural object of his bounty
The trustee never gets the property.
The beneficiary of a resulting trust can demand to get the property in trust back. It does not have to be held in trust forever.